Gretchen Jacobson

Gretchen Jacobson is vice president of the Medicare program at the Commonwealth Fund. In this role, she is responsible for developing strategy and program plans for advancing Medicare initiatives, understanding and maintaining a view of developments and policy initiatives within the Medicare program, as well as identifying and working with prospective grantees to improve project design on the development of new projects. Prior to joining the Fund, Jacobson was associate director of the Program on Medicare Policy at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Her research and knowledge have made her a nationally recognized expert in the field. Her work has appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine and Health Affairs, as well as other peer-reviewed journals. She has provided expert testimony before Congress and has been quoted as an expert by national and local media outlets. Prior to joining the Kaiser Family Foundation, she was an analyst in health care financing at the Congressional Research Service, serving as an expert resource for Congress. She also previously held positions where she directed research on the market value of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health insurance. Jacobson holds a Ph.D. in health economics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an S.M. in epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a B.A. in economics from Tufts University.